Adrian Wojnarowski ESPN

Michael C. Wright ESPN Staff Writer

Switching gears to the Tim Duncan hurricane relief front. Did you know that in the 2 ½ days they were in St. Croix a little more than a week ago, they distributed nearly 24 pounds of food per person to more than 10,500 hurricane victims? That's almost a week's worth of food distributed by Duncan and his team in 2 ½ days on the island.

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Lawrence Murray ESPN.com

Lonzo Ball (ankle) did everything in practice today and wants to play Thursday. Barring setbacks, he should be ready for regular season opener.

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Bobby Marks ESPN

The LaMarcus Aldridge extension now has the Spurs with $68M in guaranteed contracts (including the team option for Dejounte Murray and Derrick White) for 2019-20. That number could rise next summer when All-Star Kawhi Leonard is eligible to sign for the Designated Player Veteran Extension. Leonard could sign a five-year $219M extension with a $37.8M cap hit in 2019. Leonard currently has a $21.3M player option for the 2019-20 season.

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Lawrence Murray ESPN.com

Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma with the post practice halfcourt shot duel.

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Tim MacMahon ESPN Staff Writer

Mike D'Antoni: "We closed the gap [on the Warriors] only because I feel that we're better this year last year. Now, we'll see if they're better. They might be better, so maybe it's an illusion. That's the reason we can say that. We just feel like we're a better team this year. Now, we've got a ways to go. This is not going to be the same team it is in May. It shouldn't be. If it is, we're in trouble."

Adrian Wojnarowski ESPN

Tim MacMahon ESPN Staff Writer

Mike D'Antoni warns about overreactions to Rockets-Warriors opener. "Did it really mean anything when the Spurs beat them by 40 last year?"

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Tim MacMahon ESPN Staff Writer

James Harden believes Rockets have pieces to be legitimate challengers to Warriors. "We have to find our identity."

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Tim MacMahon ESPN Staff Writer

The Mavs signed SG Gian Clavell to a two-way contract, according to a source.

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Tim MacMahon ESPN Staff Writer

Oracle Arena is ready to get the NBA season rolling.

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Adrian Wojnarowski ESPN

Kendrick Perkins, a 13-year NBA veteran, has agreed to deal to join the Cleveland-affiliated Canton Charge of G-League, league sources tell ESPN.

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Adrian Wojnarowski ESPN

LaMarcus Aldridge and the San Antonio Spurs are engaged in serious talks on a contract extension, league sources tell ESPN.

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Ian Begley ESPN Staff Writer

Jeff Hornacek has been impressed with Frank Ntilikina's feel for the game, which is probably advanced at this point because the rookie played professionally in France: "Usually for a young kid like that, you've got to spend a lot of time explaining plays, explaining NBA sets. yYou're not able to go to all the little tricks and all those things for a while," Hornacek said. "With Frank, you can talk about them already. So that's great."

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Ian Begley ESPN Staff Writer

Frank Ntilikina still expects to be fully healthy for the Knicks' season opener Thursday. He didn't participate in the scrimmage at practice Monday but said the team is being 'careful' and that he will increase his activity leading up to Thursday's game against OKC. Jeff Hornacek said he's been impressed by a Ntilikina's ability to learn his craft even while not playing. Ntilikina said that while he missed games he "did the maximum to keep my mind in there with the guys, talking to them even if I wasn't out on the court, building the chemistry. I talk a lot with my teammates on trying to know how they feel on the plays, trying to know what they prefer, how they're comfortable. So I did the job off the court." Ntilikina also said he's excited about potentially facing Russell Westbrook in the opener. "Every point guard in the league, they're talented. It's a very talented league. Westbrook is the MVP. It's going to be fun."

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Malinda Adams ESPN Producer

JR says he has accepted his role. On LeBron playing: "oh he gonna go!"

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Malinda Adams ESPN Producer

LeBron is on the court. Still a game day decision.

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Dave McMenamin ESPN Staff Writer

LeBron James and three former Celtics (Jeff Green, Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder) get up shots together a day before the Cavs play Boston.

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Ian Begley ESPN Staff Writer

Trainer Chris Brickley will host a camp for players ages 9-16 at the NBPA in Manhattan on Saturday, 10/28, featuring some NBA players:

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Malinda Adams ESPN Producer

Coach Lue says if LeBron doesn't play J R Smith will replace him.

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Bobby Marks ESPN

Utah has announced that they have waived Joel Bolomboy. The $1.3M contract for Bolomboy was guaranteed this season. The $1.5M salary in 2018-19 was non-guaranteed.

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Ian Begley ESPN Staff Writer

Frank Ntilikina (knee) participated in contact portions of practice today but is not participating in scrimmage. Everyone else practiced.

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Ian Begley ESPN Staff Writer

the Knicks are highly unlikely to sign Doug McDermott to extension before today's 6 PM deadline. They'll take the season to see how/if he fits into their future plans. McDermott has made a strong impression thus far; he was one of the bright spots in an otherwise disappointing preseason and has a chance to start at small forward for New York.

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Bobby Marks ESPN

Today is also the last day for a veteran that has two years left on his contract to sign an extension. For example, the Hornets Kemba Walker can sign a three-year $46M extension with a starting salary of $14.4M in 2019-20. A player on his last year and extension eligible has up until June 30 to sign a new contract.

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